Preamble for use within single user, multiple user, multiple access, and/or MIMO wireless communications

1. A wireless communication device comprising: a communication interface; and a processing circuit, at least one of the processing circuit or the communication interface configured to: generate a packet that includes a preamble having a preamble format as specified within a predetermined combination of preamble formats for a plurality of transmission types; generate, when operating based on an open loop single user (SU) transmission type, the preamble based on a first preamble format within the predetermined combination of preamble formats, wherein the first preamble format includes a short training field (STF) adjacently followed by a long training field (LTF) adjacently followed by a first signal field (SIG) adjacently followed by one or more other long training fields (LTFs) adjacently followed by a data field; generate, when operating based on a SU beamforming transmission type, the preamble based on a second preamble format within the predetermined combination of preamble formats, wherein the second preamble format includes the STF adjacently followed by the LTF adjacently followed by the first SIG adjacently followed by another STF adjacently followed by the one or more other LTFs adjacently followed by a second SIG adjacently followed by the data field and apply SU beamforming weighting to the packet after the first SIG, wherein the SU beamforming weighting is adapted for another wireless communication device; generate, when operating based on a multiple user (MU) beamforming transmission type, the preamble based on the second preamble format within the predetermined combination of preamble formats and apply MU beamforming to the packet after the first SIG, wherein the MU beamforming weighting is adapted for a plurality of other wireless communication devices; and transmit, when operating based on the open loop SU transmission type or the SU beamforming transmission type, the packet to the another wireless communication device; and transmit, when operating based on the MU beamforming transmission type, the packet to the plurality of other wireless communication devices.

2. The wireless communication device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one of the processing circuit or the communication interface is further configured to: set at least one bit within the first SIG to a first value to indicate the first preamble format when the transmission type is the open loop SU transmission type; and set the at least one bit within the first SIG to a second value to indicate the second preamble format when the transmission type is the SU beamforming transmission type or the MU beamforming transmission type.

3. The wireless communication device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one of the processing circuit or the communication interface is further configured to: generate the preamble based on the second preamble format within the predetermined combination of preamble formats such that the first SIG includes a first plurality of bits having a modulation coding set (MCS) specified for use within a basic services set (BSS) that includes the another wireless communication device and at least one other wireless communication device, and wherein the second SIG includes a second plurality of bits that specify information intended for only the another wireless communication device within the BSS.

4. The wireless communication device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one of the processing circuit or the communication interface is further configured to: set a bit within the first SIG to a first value to indicate a SU transmission type of the preamble; and set the bit within the first SIG to a second value to indicate a MU beamforming transmission type of the preamble.

5. The wireless communication device of claim 1 further comprising: an access point (AP), wherein the another wireless communication device is a wireless station (STA).

6. A wireless communication device comprising: a communication interface; and a processing circuit, at least one of the processing circuit or the communication interface configured to: generate a packet that includes a preamble having a preamble format as specified within a predetermined combination of preamble formats for a plurality of transmission types; when operating based on a single user (SU) transmission type: generate the preamble based on a first preamble format within the predetermined combination of preamble formats and set at least one bit within a first signal field (SIG) of the preamble to a first value to indicate the first preamble format when the SU transmission type is an open loop type, wherein the first preamble format includes a short training field (STF) adjacently followed by a long training field (LTF) adjacently followed by a first signal field (SIG) adjacently followed by one or more other long training fields (LTFs) adjacently followed by a data field; generate the preamble based on a second preamble format within the predetermined combination of preamble formats and set the at least one bit within the first SIG of the preamble to a second value to indicate the second preamble format when the SU transmission type is a beamforming type, wherein the second preamble format includes the STF adjacently followed by the LTF adjacently followed by the first SIG adjacently followed by another STF adjacently followed by the one or more other LTFs adjacently followed by a second SIG adjacently followed by the data field and apply SU beamforming weighting to the packet after the first SIG, wherein the SU beamforming weighting is adapted for another wireless communication device; and transmit the packet to the another wireless communication device via the communication interface; and when operating based on a multiple user (MU) beamforming transmission type: generate the preamble based on the second preamble format within the predetermined combination of preamble formats and set the at least one bit within the first SIG of the preamble to the second value to indicate the second preamble format; apply MU beamforming to the packet after the first SIG, wherein the MU beamforming weighting is adapted for a plurality of other wireless communication devices; and transmit the packet to the plurality of other wireless communication devices via the communication interface.

7. The wireless communication device of claim 6 , wherein the at least one of the processing circuit or the communication interface is further configured to: generate the preamble such that the one or more other LTFs includes a first LTF adjacently followed by a second LTF that is a repetition of the first LTF.

8. The wireless communication device of claim 6 , wherein the at least one of the processing circuit or the communication interface is further configured to: generate the first SIG based on a modulation coding set (MCS) specified for use within a basic services set (BSS) that includes the another wireless communication device and the plurality of other wireless communication devices, wherein all wireless communication devices within the BSS include capability to process the first SIG based on the MCS.

9. The wireless communication device of claim 6 , wherein the at least one of the processing circuit or the communication interface is further configured to: generate the preamble based on the first preamble format including to generate the first SIG to indicate a modulation coding set (MCS) of the data field of the packet; and generate the preamble based on the second preamble format including to generate the first SIG and the second SIG to indicate the MCS of the data field of the packet.

10. The wireless communication device of claim 6 , wherein the at least one of the processing circuit or the communication interface is further configured to: generate the preamble including to generate the first SIG to indicate a first modulation coding set (MCS) of the second SIG, wherein the second SIG indicates a difference between the first MCS of the second SIG and a second MCS of the data field.

11. The wireless communication device of claim 6 , wherein the at least one of the processing circuit or the communication interface is further configured to: generate the preamble based on the second preamble format within the predetermined combination of preamble formats such that the first SIG includes a first plurality of bits having a modulation coding set (MCS) specified for use within a basic services set (BSS) that includes the another wireless communication device and at least one other wireless communication device, and wherein the second SIG includes a second plurality of bits that specify information intended for only the another wireless communication device within the BSS.

12. The wireless communication device of claim 6 , wherein the at least one of the processing circuit or the communication interface is further configured to: generate the preamble such that the one or more other LTFs includes a first LTF composed of a first symbol adjacently followed by a second LTF composed of a second symbol.

13. The wireless communication device of claim 6 further comprising: an access point (AP), wherein the another wireless communication device is a wireless station (STA).

14. A method for execution by a wireless communication device, the method comprising: generating a packet that includes a preamble having a preamble format as specified within a predetermined combination of preamble formats for a plurality of transmission types; when operating based on a single user (SU) transmission type: generating the preamble based on a first preamble format within the predetermined combination of preamble formats and setting at least one bit within a first signal field (SIG) of the preamble to first value to indicate the first preamble format when the SU transmission type is an open loop type, wherein the first preamble format includes a short training field (STF) adjacently followed by a long training field (LTF) adjacently followed by a first signal field (SIG) adjacently followed by one or more other long training fields (LTFs) adjacently followed by a data field; generating the preamble based on a second preamble format within the predetermined combination of preamble formats and setting the at least one bit within the SIG of the preamble to second value to indicate the second preamble format when the SU transmission type is a beamforming type, wherein the second preamble format includes the STF adjacently followed by the LTF adjacently followed by the first SIG adjacently followed by another STF adjacently followed by the one or more other LTFs adjacently followed by a second SIG adjacently followed by the data field and applying SU beamforming weighting to the packet after the first SIG, wherein the SU beamforming weighting is adapted for another wireless communication device; and transmitting the packet to the another wireless communication device via a communication interface of the another wireless communication device; and when operating based on a multiple user (MU) beamforming transmission type: generating the preamble based on the second preamble format within the predetermined combination of preamble formats and setting the at least one bit within the first SIG of the preamble to the second value to indicate the second preamble format; applying MU beamforming weighting to the packet after the first SIG, wherein the MU beamforming weighting is adapted for a plurality of other wireless communication devices; and transmitting the packet to the plurality of other wireless communication devices via the communication interface.

15. The method of claim 14 further comprising: generating the preamble such that the one or more other LTFs includes a first LTF adjacently followed by a second LTF that is a repetition of the first LTF.

16. The method of claim 14 further comprising: generating the first SIG based on a modulation coding set (MCS) specified for use within a basic services set (BSS) that includes the another wireless communication device and the plurality of other wireless communication devices, wherein all wireless communication devices within the BSS include capability to process the first SIG based on the MCS.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising: generating the preamble based on the first preamble format including to generate the first SIG to indicate a modulation coding set (MCS) of the data field of the packet; and generating the preamble based on the second preamble format including to generate the first SIG and the second SIG to indicate the MCS of the data field of the packet.

18. The method of claim 14 further comprising: generating the preamble including to generate the first SIG to indicate a first modulation coding set (MCS) of the second SIG, wherein the second SIG indicates a difference between the first MCS of the second SIG and a second MCS of the data field.

19. The method of claim 14 further comprising: generating the preamble based on the second preamble format within the predetermined combination of preamble formats such that the first SIG includes a first plurality of bits having a modulation coding set (MCS) specified for use within a basic services set (BSS) that includes the another wireless communication device and at least one other wireless communication device, and wherein the second SIG includes a second plurality of bits that specify information intended for only the another wireless communication device within the BSS.

20. The method of claim 14 , wherein the wireless communication device is an access point (AP), and the another wireless communication device is a wireless station (STA).